


Sour Gummy Worms

by SpideychelleCarwheelerTrash



Series: Segmented (A Collection of Spideychelle One-shots) [3]
Category: Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-10
Updated: 2018-07-10
Packaged: 2019-06-08 13:05:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,953
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15244008
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpideychelleCarwheelerTrash/pseuds/SpideychelleCarwheelerTrash
Summary: A panic session the night before a project is a little bit more enjoyable when one is with Michelle Jones. But if Peter isn't careful, he might find himself delving a little deeper into his feelings than he would like to.





	Sour Gummy Worms

**Author's Note:**

> This is one of a collection of one-shots that were requested of me from a prompt list on my Tumblr. If you are interested in adding to them from the list or requesting writing from me in general, hop on over to @you-guys--are-losers on Tumblr.com. :)
> 
> ~*~
> 
> Prompt: "You know what they say, panicking burns a shit ton of calories."  
> "Who even says that?"  
> "Me, just now."

"You know what they say: panicking burns a shit ton of calories."

The dry remark came from across Peter’s bedroom, where MJ was currently curled up on the bottom bunk surrounded by open textbooks. There was a package of gummy worms on the bed beside her, the sour kind that Peter knew she liked better than any other candy. They were also a bit more difficult for Flash to make an innuendo out of, or at least one that MJ did not have a good comeback for.

“Who even says that?” Peter groaned, turning back to the computer on his desk. There was a Google Slides presentation open on the browser, along with about thirteen different tabs on the Sokovia Accords. The tabs were organized in the order of which one made his head hurt the least to the ones that gave him migraines.

“Me, just now,” MJ replied, raising an eyebrow as she popped another gummy worm into her mouth. Peter watched for a moment as she chomped down on the sugary invertebrate, shaking his head. “Why else do you think I’m going to finish this entire package?”

Despite his furrowed brow, the ghost of a smile played on his lips as she picked up another worm. Thus far, she had been eating all of the red and green ones, which he knew were her least favorite. Due to their “system”, during long sci-fi movies, Peter and MJ sat next to one another to share the bag of gummies. She always took the red and blue, leaving the red and green ones for him since they were his favorites. It made for a very efficient system. Since she was eating them by herself, Peter figured she was meticulously saving the best for last, one of MJ’s many meticulous rituals.

“You’re not even stressed,” he mumbled as he turned back to the browser. “You’ve just been sitting there for the past hour watching me.”

“Yeah, but you’re so freaked out that you’re rubbing off on me,” MJ remarked serenely, rolling onto her back on the bottom bunk and raising a hand to run it along the bed frame above. He knew she was tracing the place where she, Ned, and Peter had written their names in Sharpie. “It’s like secondhand smoking, except with stress. It’s a danger to my health.”

Peter couldn’t keep a soft huff of amusement from escaping his lips, and he didn’t have to look back at her to know that there was satisfaction in her eyes.

“I don’t think that’s actually a thing,” he replied as he switched back and forth from an Encyclopedia Britannica article to the actual presentation. “Hey... Didn’t you have an old paper about this saved?”

MJ glanced up at him, nodding as she turned to her laptop. “How much are you gonna pay me for it?” she asked as she began to click, selecting several different folders. A few months ago, Peter might have thought that she was serious. At this point he knew that she was kidding. He had to hand it to her, though-- MJ had an admirable poker face. Sometimes he wished he could mimic it, or at least not show every emotion he felt on his face at all times.

“I’ll only steal one gummy worm instead of three if you share it,” Peter decided as he maneuvered over to the bed. He stole a glance over her shoulder as she clicked through her drive. His eyes almost immediately found the folder as he leaned on the side of the bed to peer at the screen. “There it is,” Peter exclaimed, pointing at it. “It’s...”

As he noticed something, his brow furrowed and his voice died down. There was a presentation in MJ’s drive labeled ‘Sokovia Accords.’ The ‘last edited’ date was yesterday. “What’s that?” Peter pressed.

MJ peered up at him innocently. “I don’t know what you’re-”

Peter leaned over so that he could tap the mouse pad and open the presentation. A Google Slides presentation with at least fifteen slides popped onto the screen, and from the sidebar, Peter could see that each slide was filled with neatly organized information. On the title slide, both of their names were clearly typed.

“MJ...” Peter murmured, brow furrowed. “Is this...”

“Finished?” she predicted. “Yes, it is. I did it on Wednesday.”

His eyes widened, and she smirked at him. “I… What?” he stammered. “Then why are we here after school doing it?”

MJ raised an eyebrow as she popped another gummy worm in her mouth. “Because,” she began, shutting a few textbooks, “you flaked on me, Parker.”

His face flushed, and he ran a hand through his hair. “I-I know that I haven’t been around much, but-”

“I know you’ve been off spider-ing, I don’t care about that,” MJ hummed as she slid her textbooks into her worn messenger bag. “But I do care about you not showing up to decathlon and not texting me back about our projects afterward. So maybe I did the presentation and didn’t tell you about it just because I wanted to see you sweat a little.”

Peter processed what she was saying as the guilt slowly crept in on him. He had been skipping decathlon, but he didn’t think she cared as long as he showed up to at least a few a week. After all, she’d known about his ‘Stark internship’ for months-- longer, according to her when he told her. It had been a rather underwhelming conversation. But he knew what she meant. He hadn’t been checking his phone, for one thing, or at least not as much as he should have been. And he knew that she texted him at least two different times about meeting up for the project before he actually responded. So, maybe he was the slightest bit irritated, but he also knew that this wasn’t exactly unwarranted.

Finally, he let out a little sigh and shot her a sheepish smile. “So… was it as much fun as you dreamed?” he asked, and a little smile edges its way onto his lips.

“Maybe even more,” she conceded with a smirk, and for some reason, his heart flopped when he looked into her gleaming brown eyes. MJ looked so confident, so in control of herself, with one corner of her mouth twisted upwards. For a moment, all he could think about was the ringlet of wavy hair that had fallen into her eyes, and what it might feel like to brush that away…

What?

_Stop it, Peter Parker. Stop it right there._

Peter let out a playful groan and buried his head in his hands. He wasn’t just being dramatic; the movement helped the red rising into his cheeks. “You’re cruel,” he moaned in a lighthearted tone, shutting off his computer. “Did we really have to do this here? You could have watched me work myself up about this at school.”  

“But we couldn’t have watched the Star Wars marathon that starts in twenty minutes if we’d done it at school.”

For a moment, Peter just stared at MJ, watching as a hesitant grin spread across her lips. He slowly began to shake his head as she stretched for a moment on the bed, humming before pulling herself up. “You’re- you aren’t kidding?” he stammered, running a hand through his hair. He could tell his eyes were ridiculously wide. “I didn’t even know it was on tonight! I thought that it was Sunday!”

“It is Sunday, dweeb,” MJ informed him as she picked up her hoodie from the end of his bed. “And I know you didn’t know, because Ned said you got home at three in the morning. So yeah, I wanted to see you sweat. But also, this is a surprise so that you don’t run yourself into the ground.” Her eyes narrowed playfully as she picked up the bag. “If you want any of your red and green ones, you’d better grab a blanket and get the TV turned on fast.”

Peter slowly shook his head as he met her gaze, and a warm smile crossed his lips. He had been exhausted, it was true, and until she told him what they were doing Peter had not realized exactly how much he needed it. MJ wasn’t exactly the most affectionate person, but this was proof that she cared about him. The fact that she cared enough to look after his mental health, on top of everything, was unbelievable. Warmth flooded through him, and without thinking, he exclaimed, “You’re amazing, MJ! Honestly, I could kiss you right now!”

It was an expression, one that he had hoped would put emphasis on his gratitude. However, from her position on the bed, MJ raised an eyebrow at him. “What’s stopping you?” she shot back. His eyes met her deep cocoa ones, and Peter froze.

The question, posed in MJ’s smoky alto, was enough to kick his brain into overdrive. Peter opened and closed his mouth several times, gaping like a fish. What had she said that for? Did she-- there was no way she actually wanted him to kiss her? Right?

She had never said anything like that before, and so Peter had never thought about it before. Sure, he knew she was pretty, and he had thought about that, definitely. Every once in a while, when he looked at her, it would catch him off guard. But now, Peter was having a difficult time. His gaze was drawn to MJ’s lips as if by some magnetic pull. They were full, and they looked  _extremely_  soft…

No, Peter, what are you doing?

Peter forced himself to drag his gaze away from her lips, blinking several times “I-I, um… MJ, are you actually- not that, um, you’re not pretty or anything-- you are, you are. It’s just that... We’re friends, you know, and-”

His voice trailed off, and for a moment, MJ stared at him. Then, before Peter could dig himself further into a hole, MJ burst into laughter.

It was strange, hearing MJ’s laugh. Peter had never really known her to show much emotion, so he had not heard much more than one or two short bursts of laughter from her before. But now, her melodic laughter filled the room, and he felt blood rush to his cheeks. On the one hand, Peter was smarting with embarrassment. On the other hand, the sound of her laughter caused his heart to soar in a way it never had before, even if it was at his expense.

Finally, after a few minutes, MJ’s laughter died down. She seemed to be struggling to catch her breath as she swung her messenger bag over her shoulder and picked up the bag of gummy worms. “You… You should have seen your face,” she exclaimed between gasps. “It was a joke, Parker. Oh my God, that was priceless.” The taller girl shook her head, finally managing to calm her laughter as she moved to brush past him on her way to the living room.

“O-oh, yeah,” Peter stammered, slowly regaining control of his face. He forced a few laughs, though he wasn’t entirely sure they were convincing. “Ha, ha… Of course you were kidding, you had me worried there.”

However, as he moved to sit beside her on the sofa and spread the blanket out over the both of them, he realized something. As he peered over at MJ, who was currently scrolling through the channels on the television without bothering to move the ringlet of hair that had fallen in her eyes, he knew that she had made him a liar.

The idea of kissing Michelle Jones did not worry him one little bit. 


End file.
